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Emsh'Karjane
The Emsh'Karjane (em-SHA kar-YAN) are largely a mystery even to the people of the North. They are generally recognized as being incredibly ancient, having inhabited the tundra at least as long as humans have been living in the forests and on the coasts. Very little is known about the culture of the "Mammoth Herders" - because of their isolation in the icy north, away from the settlements of humans, contact between the two species is rare. Physiology The Emsh'Karjane (High Sylarin, lit; Mist-Walkers), are essentially creatures with the legs and body of woolly mammoths, and the head, shoulders and torso of a more humanoid creature. Not to be confused with centaurs, minotaurs or other mythological creatures, the Karjane are not an amalgamation of two creatures, rather they are a species unto themselves, best described in terms of the other species. Adult males generally stand between 12 and 15 feet tall, and weight approximately a ton. Females are generally more or less identical, although they do tend to be very slightly lighter and more elegant. Karjane are covered in thick fur of two or more layers; on the lower section of the body - the quadrapedal torso and four legs - they have a dense underlayer of short, bristly hairs to keep warm air close to the surface of the body, overlayed by a thick shaggy brown coat. On their humanoid chest and head, the fur is short and bristly. The "humanoid" portion of the Karjane is only humanoid in that it is upright and has a vaguely similar bone structure. The skull is in fact closer to the extinct relatives of modern humans - the neanderthal, although it is approximately three times the size of any real neanderthal skull. The skeleton is broad shouldered and thick set, with huge, heavy bones to provide anchors for the enormous muscles of the creature. Both genders of the species grow tusks similar to those of mammoths. The tusks of male Karjane are significantly larger than those of females, reaching lengths of up to 8 feet while the largest tusks seen on a female were around 5 feet long. History The Karjane are a tribal group living on the interior tundra of the Northern continent. They speak a curious hybrid of the languages spoken by humans in the north - specifically High Sylarin and Imperial Common, and their traditional "Old Speech". Karjane tribes are almost invariably peaceable, and focused on pastoralism, tending their mammoth herds. Origins and Migration During the great Ice Ages of the world's distant past, the Karjane developed in the temperate lands near the glacier wastes in Khaddara. As the glaciers retreated, and the temperate regions grew increasingly warmer, the mammoth herds followed the glaciers, and the Karjane followed their mammoths. The history of the Karjane as a species is not well understood, their distant history, when the Karjane were a dominant species in their lands, belongs to an incredibly ancient period equivalent with the Stone Age of mankind. Indeed, the ruins of stone tools and prehistoric structures have been discovered in Khaddara, lending some credibility to the possibility of one - or possibly several - Karjane civilizations existing on the temperate plains of pre-human Khaddara. Despite the existence of prehistoric civilizations, however, the Karjane don't appear to have advanced greatly in terms of science or culture. Human Contact Prehistory The prehistoric ruins of Karjane cultures discovered in Khaddara also contained time-worn etchings on stone walls of what appear to be early graffiti. Because the etchings are generally only around five feet from the ground, it is highly unlikely that they were made by Karjane, and it seems likely that they were made by human slaves. Early History With the possible exception of the ancient empires suggested by the ruins found in Khaddara, Karjane appear to have always been a nomadic people. Their sheer size and the mobility afforded by their quadrepedal nature mean that they are both difficult to house, and find it easy to move between comfortable resting places. Unlike humans, Karjane were designed by nature to resist the elements; their thick fur protecting them from the cold and rain, and so weathering storms or blizzards in open lands is not a problem for their kind. Although it seems as though they kept humans as slaves, it is also clear that there were significant human populations outside of their control. Because both species had very little difference in their advancement, or their levels of technology, neither side dominated one another, and they were forced to live together in relative harmony. Competing Civilizations As the glaciers retreated, and the Karjane moved north to follow them, humans - and their developing civilizations - followed. As the humans made great leaps and bounds in science; taming animals, producing more potent weapons and armor, and developing agriculture to feed their ever growing populations, the Karjane culture stagnated. They never advanced beyond stone age technology, and so when the two species came into open competition, the superior strength and size of the Karjane did little more than balance the forces that each side brought to bear. Slowly but surely, the advanced tools and weapons of the humans pushed out the brute strength of the Karjane, and they were forced northward, away from the warm coasts. Since then, constant waves of migration and expansion have pushed the Karjane ever northward. Defeat The closing days of the Karjane dominance - or equality - in the North came when the Sylarin began trading iron goods with the south. Attacks by the Sylarin on the Karjane became more and more frequent, and the stone age tools of the Karjane were no match for the advanced iron weapons of their opponents. Category:The North Category:Mythology